Sony has been teasing a product announcement for August 3, two days from now, and the main theme for it seems to be gold. We are, however, quite intrigued by the more orthodox white and black Xperias that posed for a hands-on photoshoot on Russian tech site hi-tech.mail.ru. Though the article has been removed by now, the images are already circulating and they leave little to the imagination.

The handsets in question are the oft-leaked Xperia C5 Ultra, also known as Sony Lavender, and the so far unheard-of Xperia M5 (perhaps no Aqua moniker this time?).

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra next to Xperia M5 • iPhone 6 Plus for comparison

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
The Sony Xperia C5 Ultra looks as striking as the leaks suggested, its side bezels nearly non-existent at 0.8mm. In between them sits a huge 6-inch FullHD display, but thanks to the thin frame the smartphone is reasonably compact – of course, as much as a 6-inch phablet can be compact. The size comparison to the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus above reveals just how efficiently the C5 Ultra’s footprint has been utilized.

The smartphone comes with a 13MP primary camera on the back, but that’s not its chief claim to fame. In keeping with C-series traditions, the Xperia C5 Ultra is strong on selfie photography and now boasts a second 13MP sensor on the front, up from the 5MP of the Xperia C4. The front flash hasn’t been forgotten, too.

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra live images

The less exciting lines in the specsheet list a Mediatek 6752 chipset, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of built-in storage (expandable via microSD). The 2,930mAh battery may prove inadequate for such a large diagonal, but we can’t know for certain until we get to test one. The 187g weight, on the other hand, sounds about right for the size.

The price in Russia is quoted at the equivalent of $340-$360, but the figures there are often a bit higher than average, so it may end up being more affordable elsewhere.

Sony Xperia M5
Speaking of affordable, the Sony Xperia M5 appears to be your Z3+ on a budget, though that’s obviously relative, as a number around the $400 ballpark has been quoted. The smartphone, which only makes its first appearance now, looks nigh identical to its upmarket sibling.

It sports a slightly smaller 5-inch FullHD display and some high-end innards. Mediatek’s current top-end Helio X10 chipset provides computing power, coupled with 3GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB, again with an option for expansion via microSD.

Sony Xperia M5 live images

More importantly, the Xperia M5 is said to come with the 21.5MP IMX230 camera sensor, which is found in the Motorola X Style – the one that DxO rated third best phone camera in the world. The f/2.2 lens aperture doesn’t sound too bright these days, though. Much like the C5 Ultra, the M5 has a 13MP front camera, but no front-facing flash here.

True to its M-series Aqua heritage, the Xperia M5 comes with IP68 certification for dust and water protection and a capless USB port, with only the card slots covered by a flap. At 7.6mm the smartphone is nearly as thin as the 6.9mm Xperia Z3+, and will come in black, silver and… gold. So that’s what the teasers have been leading up to, then.